Wednesday, April 3, 2013

I had been hearing rumors yesterday that a new President for the Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) was about to be announced. During yesterday's RIOC Real Estate advisory committee meeting, I asked RIOC Directors present as well as Acting President Don Lewis and CFO Steve Chironis if a new President was selected. All indicated no knowledge of such an appointment.

Earlier today, I received word that Charlene Indelicato was to be named RIOC President at tomorrow's RIOC Board meeting.

Ms. Indelicato has served in local government for over 20 years, as Corporation Counsel and City Manager of the City of New Rochelle and, more recently, as Westchester County Attorney where she supervised over one hundred employees.

... Ms. Indelicato has extensive experience in contracts, real estate, land use, zoning and municipal law. She has managed complex transactional and policy matters including: major infrastructure planning and development and construction management of projects, and regulatory compliance with State and Federal agencies. “She is developer savvy” said Mayor Elect Davis “and her expertise in planning and development will be extremely helpful to Mount Vernon as we seek to achieve our development potential.”

During Ms. Indelicato’s tenure as Corporation Counsel, and later as City Manager, the City of New Rochelle accomplished a major commercial redevelopment of a contaminated municipal waste site. Using Federal, State and private funds, the site was cleaned to DEC standards and is now home to Costco and Home Depot. This project was followed by negotiations for the development of New Roc City Mall, construction of the New Rochelle City Court and Police Facility, the New Rochelle Intermodal Transportation Center, and a number of other commercial and residential projects, including Avalon-on-the-Sound market rate rentals in the downtown.

I am incredibly disappointed in the way the governor's office announced the appointment. The lack of transparency is glaring. They should have worked together with the community and the RIOC board to find a new president.

RIOC has been understaffed and without direction for too long, and the community has suffered because of it. If Ms. Indelicato is confirmed by the RIOC board, I sincerely hope that she will bring the experience and leadership that Roosevelt Island needs.

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She pushed to remove a "blighted area" from Mt Vernon so it could be "renewed" by developers. Is she pro-developer or pro-people? Here's the story about her pushing to remove the "blighted area" http://shannonayala.journalism.cuny.edu/2012/10/15/mount-vernon-blight-area-may-be-redeveloped/

Thankfully,Governor Cuomo ,his staff carefully picked someone that would be able to handle the job. According to Ms. Indelicato 's public profile ,experience she is well suited for this magnanimous position. I wish her well,look foward to working with her .

With an unusual name, it doesn't take much effort. In a quickly settled case, Deem v. Indelicato, she was sued over her operation of the County Attorney's office for "...systemic and continuing gender-discriminatory policies and practices..." While complaints only represent one side of an argument, it does raise questions.

I downloaded the complaint to RECAP: http://ia601701.us.archive.org/0/items/gov.uscourts.nysd.341145/gov.uscourts.nysd.341145.1.0.pdf

The docket is at http://ia601701.us.archive.org/0/items/gov.uscourts.nysd.341145/gov.uscourts.nysd.341145.docket.html

20. Hillary Raimondi, in her office with the door wide open, changed her clothes and put on a horse riding outfit, displaying an open "fly" to the Plaintiff as she tucked in a shirt as if she were alone in women's locker room.

This really sounds exciting ... hubba, hubba! Well at least that's the complaint in "http://www.archive.org/download/gov.uscourts.nysd.341145/gov.uscourts.nysd.341145.1.0.pdf". Meanwhile, her answer is less exciting "Defendant denies knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as the truth of the allegations set forth in Paragraph 20 of the Complaint", see "http://www.archive.org/download/gov.uscourts.nysd.341145/gov.uscourts.nysd.341145.6.0.pdf".

I'll say. Chironis should watch his back if/when she gets in. She sounds really nasty - and this comes from a female kitty! She definitely created a hostile work environment based on discrimination against an attorney because he was male - sex discrimination, although she denied every allegation. Does anyone know the outcome of the case? Was there a trial? Or was the case dismissed?

It's rude and antisocial to do that as well as disrespectful. It's ironic that attorneys that are supposed to uphold the rights of those subjected to discrimination were themselves subjecting a colleague to sex discrimination. It almost sounds like she was mimicking the sexist good ol' boy syndrome - doing exactly the same thing, except against a man.

Typical Kitty exaggeration? Nowhere in that article is said that she "pushed to removed" a blighted (which is a legal and proper term if the study made was correct) area. Read it again, Kitty, and now without your typical prejudice.

The article says: "A swath of downtown Mount Vernon that is considered to be in poor condition -along South Fourth Avenue from Third to Fourth Streets- may be removed for new development. If the city commissions a proposed study, the area may be rebuilt with offices, housing, retail, restaurants and parking." Indelicato is pushing for the removal of a large area of Mt. Vernon that doesn't measure up to the "perfection" or "prosperity" of rich areas. It's no coincidence that the poor area is not a white area. You can see that the shocked residents of the area under discussion she is lecturing in the photograph included with the article are mostly African American. Thus, the developers will displace the poor residents, and the State, as personified by Ms. Indelicato, is pushing the displacement of the poor residents - of course in the name of "progress".

This same pushing out of less affluent residents has been happening in NYC for the past 12 years under Bloomberg, facilitated by his administration's developer-friendly rezoning. If you don't believe it, just drive around the various neighborhoods of Brooklyn that have achieved the highest spike in property values - there are exclusively white people there now, no Latinos or African-Americans. In those neighborhoods, the prior ethnic and socio-economic mix is gone.

Indelicato is trying to do the same thing in White Plains - drive out the poor so that the "blighted" area can be redeveloped into luxury condos, or a shopping center - make the area "safe" for the affluent. Maybe you think this is progress. I'm not sure the residents of the "target" area would agree.

Carbo is referring to the RIOC directors that are also Rivercross coop owners. Of course they will approve of Indelicato - since her thinking seems to neatly dovetail with theirs: Promotion of greed over community.

And who was the most enthusiastic supporter of the study, according to the article? Why, Ms. Cathlin Gleason-Boncardo, owner of a building supply company in Mt. Vernon!

Is that any surprise - since Gleason-Boncardo would be eyeing huge profits from future construction contracts once the "undesirable" area is removed? Of course she'd be enthusiastic about the study... The other attendees pictured in the photograph that accompanied the article - they don't look so enthusiastic, now do they?

Indelicato's push on clearing a large swath of Mt. Vernon is a clear example of government removing moderate to low income populations by not getting landlords or building owners to fix violations, letting neighborhoods get run-down, exactly like the City of New York is doing with the thousands and thousands of pending complaints at the projects, then saying it's too expensive to repair the structures, and the buildings - or even entire neighborhoods, such as the swath in Mt. Vernon - must be condemned. It's called demolition by neglect - and works perfectly to get rid of the "undesirable" populations that may still be on "desirable" real estate that is ripe for redevelopment.

Government first gets studies done - to show how run-down the areas are - that then justifies the condemnation of the areas.

Next - their developer friends (since the developer would have been kicking in big bucks to their campaign or political action funds all along) step in with redevelopment ideas - conveniently omitting including affordable housing, since that would bring the "undesirable" population back into the areas.

Indelicato is doing exactly what's been done in many areas of NYC under Bloomberg, with re-zoning, eminent domain, and condemnation of supposedly unsafe or neglected buildings. This is the way many ethnic, moderate-income areas were "upgraded" or "gentrified" in NYC.

Of course Indelicato pushes to get rid of the "poor" areas of Mt. Vernon. This way, her developer friends get to re-do the area for the affluent, and their donations keep pouring into her campaign coffers. Do you actually think she would push redeveloping the "poor" area with new affordable housing for moderate- to low-income people? Hahahahahaha! If you think so, then you are living on Mars!

The study Indelicato commissioned is just the beginning of the process of removal of the "undesirable" population! You read the article again, YetAnotherRIer - but read it carefully this time.

Indelicato being named RIOC Pres was a done deal anyway, and as you say, a RIOC Board vote was more like theater than anything else since they could not have reversed the decision by Cuomo. With Indelicato already sitting right there with the Board, the vote was no more than a rubber-stamp vote: Indelicato's grateful subjects "welcoming" a new leader we have no choice but to "welcome".

RIOC Bylaws give the RIOC Board the authority to select officers of the corporattion.

"Section 2. Election and Term of Office. Except as otherwise provided in the Act, the officers shall be elected by resolution at a regular meeting of the Board. Each officer shall hold office, unless removed, until his or her successor shall have been elected. Except as otherwise provided in the Act, a vacancy in any office shall be filled by the Board."

To Rooseveltislander: Thank you for the link-I read it and I still don't see the answer I am looking for. The President of RIOC is not elected, it is an appointment. Could a vote of the RIOC Board nullified Cuomo's appointment? And if it can, shouldn't the Board have time to vet the person they are going to vote on?

Here's a story about the ethical swamp of Westchester politics that features Charlene M. Indelicato http://www.nytimes.com/1997/04/27/nyregion/county-offers-tougher-rules-in-ethics-code.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm. Note the two sentences about Indelicato: "In New Rochelle, Ethics Board members have turned down a proposal by a former City Manager, Charlene M. Indelicato, to work for the municipality for a $100,000-a-year retainer." and "In New Rochelle, James Arles, chairman of the Ethics Board there, said the City Council charged his panel with finding a way to prevent further instances of a ''public-private revolving door'' after a request was denied from Ms. Indelicato and the former Corporation Counsel, Frederick H. Koelsch, who had started their own law firm and wanted to charge the city $165 an hour for their consulting services."

Here's a blog about corrupt courts - this page concerns the filing by the 20-year Marine vet - Deem - who was evidently so harassed by sex discrimination at Indelicato's office that he had to file a law suit. http://exposecorruptcourts.blogspot.com/2009/03/law-and-man-hating-district-attorneys.html

Mark, I do not think we should demonize this woman off the cuff. That is unjust,unfair,prejudice. This woman may be the best thing that has happened to the governance of the Island. We should atleast give her a chance .By throwing her past into the public arena you are setting the stage for failure ! It's not fair to her to RIOC ,to the community......Do unto others as we would want done to ourselves...

Asking legitimate questions about a candidate's past problems is in no way inappropriate. There may be a perfectly good explanation for this issue, but the information provided publicly before her approval was incredibly limited. This is an important position; it should not have been filled with someone who was not thoroughly and completely vetted.

Rick, can you cite where "according to law, a search for candidates should be conducted and then chosen by vote of the Board"? I'm not aware of any law that mandates a search.

As for "election" vs. "appointment", these positions are all "appointment" positions: there is a business process that must be followed for those *privately* selected, i.e., does NOT involve any candidate who desires to run (that would be called an election). For example, for two board member appointments, a business process involves a recommendation from the mayor, a confirmation by the governor, and then a confirmation by the State Senate (note: I've avoided using the word appointment in the description of this appointment business process).

RIOC does not operate by Roberts Rules, so all this stuff on motions and seconds (as recorded in the RIOC Board minutes) are not required at all. RIOC By-Laws explains that meetings have a fixed agenda (Article 3, Section 4) and the process of the meetings (votes on questions stated as resolutions, Article 3, Section 5). There is no approval of agenda, no formal notion of tabling, motions to amend, and so on. It's simply a question posed (as controlled by the Chair) and board members answering Yea/Nea. In other words, this is nothing like Roberts Rules.

I mention this because, although the RIOC By-Laws use the word "elect" in Article 4, Section 2 ("the officers shall be elected by resolution at a regular meeting of the Board"), because questions can only have Yea/Nea answers (Article 3, Section 6, "Voting on all questions at meetings shall be by roll call, and the yeas and nays ..."), then there can only be one candidate in this election process ("Do you approve person X for the appointment to position Y?"). In other words, an election of "Whom to you choose for President: Moe, Larry, or Curly?" is not possible because only Yea/Nea are valid responses to questions.

Add to this: because the order of business does not include amendments to the agenda, the Chair of the RIOC Board (DHCR Commissioner) determines what is on the agenda. In other words, if you're a board member, you have no way (procedurally) to get your candidate on the agenda, you must take the Chair's choice, which is (of course) the Governor's choice.

In other words, although it doesn't say it explicitly, the RIOC "election" process only involves one candidate, which is the Governor's choice. Yes, the board can give it an up/down vote, but that's all the power the RIOC Board has.

I don't understand why some RIOC Board members push on this selection process when, in fact, they are out of the loop (as per the RIOC By-Laws). Sure, it makes sense for RIOC Board members to have a say, but it is not by the Governor's insistence, but it is by limitations within the RIOC By-Laws.

If the Board were to reject a selection of the Governor, that person would still be President of the RIOC Board. All of this talk about the "process" of selection is much ado about nothing. It is apparent that the Garden Club has more power over their officers than the RIOC Board does over its President. This huge effort to convince residents that this is somehow a democracy, and that the Governor has to answer to a selection process, etc. is just a time consuming costly effort. If the Board went through a selection process, found an ideal candidate, the Governor still would not have to appoint that person.

The Governor doesn't appoint the President. He appoints the Board. The Board selects and approves officers of the corporation

The board could have rejected the Governor's "suggested" candidate for President, but they'd likely find that their services on the Board were no longer required. The better solution would have been for them to find and appoint a candidate of their choosing during the previous six months.

Mark, again ~ I respectfully disagree, For far to long Leslie Torres, Fernando Martinez has been getting away with murder. This entire community including this "(now) so concerned" RIOC board has taken a dismissive approach to the incompetancy,unethical dealings of both Leslie & Fernando.. To my knowledge there was no "PUBLIC" outcry when Leslie was appointed overnight by Former commissioner Lawlor. The entire community kept quiet . According to popular opinion ,When Jonathan Kalkin was replaced the old timers of this island started to panic.Jonathan was their poster child for making unwritten policy at RIOC. Secondly ,what's so terrible about the Governor of this state who was rightfully elected to office to make appointments ,replacements? It is his legal right! RIOC is a "state charted" agency .So Yes ,If the Governor choses to appoint Mickey Mouse it's his right . Lastly ,The majority of RIOC board members have elapsed their time on the board. Speaking from a legal aspect ,When a persons time has expired or a statute has reached it's "limit" By law they have no fudiciary duties.So every last board member is just existing.Legally speaking when there is no functioning board with legal right to govern the person appropriate to step in would be the Principal .In this case the state.

Oh FYI---> It's unfair to pass judgement to claim this incoming President was not properly vetted .She has held several government posts.Might I add held on to the post for a long while. I find that most people tend to use the word democracy as a scape goat for being disrespectful,.. I also find it cowardly to use someones past to validate who they are.

You wrong again! Since the existence of RIOC being a "Public Benefit Corporation" under the state charter Every Governor That I could remember has appointed the board/ The president/CEO....Just a few yaers ago a binding agreement was made that the Mayor appoints 2 ,The governor appoints the rest. Any way you put it ,Every board member even if appointed by NYC has to be approved by the Governor,confirmed by the senate.

Another article about the blight-study, including a link to download the actual study itself. http://mountvernon.dailyvoice.com/news/mount-vernon-releases-s-fourth-ave-blight-studyAccording to the study, the area to be removed is 90% African-American.

Mr. Reid, there isn't a singular "appointment" business process, but several for RIOC:

- The Chair of the RIOC Board is an ex officio position filled by the DHCR Commissioner, i.e., the business process for this RIOC director is the one for the DHCR Commissioner process.

- The Director of Budget is an ex officio position for a RIOC Director, i.e., the business process of appointing the Director of Budget.

- Two RIOC director positions are Mayoral recommendations, of which one must be a resident, i.e., the business process is: (1) Mayor makes recommendation, (2) Governor confirms recommendation, (3) State Senate confirms recommendation, (4) which results in appointment.

- Five RIOC director positions are Gubernatorial recommendations, of which four must be residents, i.e., the business process is: (1) Governor makes recommendation, (2) State Senate confirms recommendation, (3) which results in appointment.

- The officers of the corporation (President, CFO, etc.) are appointed by the business process described in the RIOC By-Laws: (1) distribution of written resolution to board members for appointment of person X for position Y, (2) board approval for said resolution.

Furthermore, all the main positions (directors, officers) need to be vetted by the Authorities Budget Office (ABO). The ABO's powers and duties include "recommending the dismissal of officers and directors" and, thus, they make recommendations on appointments (see "http://www.abo.ny.gov/abo/about_mission.html"). I've heard this echoed at one of the RIOC Board Committee meetings where RIOC's head of HR said that all non-union positions are filled through the ABO.

Realistically, the rest of the State's Executive Branch apparatus will always have someone keeping an eye on RIOC: during Herb Berman, it was DHCR staffers Sari Dickson and another woman (forgot her name) that were here on site to monitor things; during Steve Shane's administration it was DHCR's Rosina Abramson to keep watch; Leslie Torres was from DHCR; and so on.

What's not to understand that the Executive Branch wants to have one of their people on the inside to know what's going on in RIOC? As I said before, the RIOC Board should accept the Governor's person as RIOC President without complaint (too late, the vote already occurred), and pick your fight on the VP of Operations.

Still, the RIOC Board doesn't seem to have the gumption to get rid of PSD's Guerra and his top brass. In other words, the RIOC Board is doing a lousy job for the Governor and a lousy job representing the residents. Way to Go! (not)

The Public Authorities Act authorizes the RIOC Board to conduct a search and appoint a RIOC President when the Board concludes it is prudent to do so.

Below is February 4, 2013 letter from the NY State Authorities Budget Office to RIOC Directors which reviews the RIOC Board's responsibilities in selecting a RIOC President.

" This is in response to your inquiry below concerning whether you and other board members of Roosevelt Island Operation Corporation (RIOC) have been irresponsible in not taking independent action to fill vacant staff and executive positions at RIOC.

A core principle of the 2009 Public Authority Reform Act was the recognition that directors of public corporations have the same fiduciary duty as that of corporate boards. That is, directors are to act in the best interests of the authority with good faith, diligence, and care. Board members may take into consideration the views, recommendations, and policies of any elected official or body, or other knowledgeable person, when forming opinions or shaping decisions.

The RIOC governing statute authorizes the board to appoint officers and employees, to prescribe their duties, and to fix their compensation in accordance with an approved staffing and compensation plan. This does not preclude the board from consulting with the Governor’s Office, the Mayor of the City of New York, other elected representatives, and residents of the Island when considering such appointments. From our understanding of the situation, the RIOC board has been in communication with the Governor’s Appointments Office regarding potential candidates for the CEO and the Vice President for Operations positions. This search is ongoing and the Appointments Office has requested additional time to complete this process. Acquiescing to this request is not a dereliction of duty. It appears that the board has been acting in good faith, and you are doing your due diligence as board members to allow the process to continue.

The ABO is not in position to suggest when it might become necessary for the board to act on its own and initiate an independent search. You indicate that the Appointments Office has asked that RIOC delay this undertaking for several weeks. Only the full board can determine when it would be prudent to consider making its own appointment, and when further delay would harm the mission, reputation, or ability of RIOC to effectively carry out its public purpose. At that point, your fiduciary duty (and governing authority) would require that you take steps to prevent such harm from occurring.

We hope this address your concerns. Please contact our office if you have additional questions or seek further clarification."

Also, here is link to previous post that includes video of discussion by RIOC Directors and Staff regarding process of selecting new RIOC President.

Rick, yes I'm aware of the letter but I don't believe it is a strong as you think:

- ABO: We're not saying you can't do it.

- Rick: You should be doing it.

In other words, for "fiduciary responsibility", it is described in law as: "(g) perform each of their duties as board members, including but not limited to those imposed by this section, in good faith and with that degree of diligence, care and skill which an ordinarily prudent person in like position would use under similar circumstances, and may take into consideration the views and policies of any elected official or body, or other person and ultimately apply independent judgment in the best interest of the authority, its mission and the public; (h) at the time that each member takes and subscribes his or her oath of office, or within sixty days after the effective date of this paragraph if the member has already taken and subscribed his or her oath of office, execute an acknowledgment, in the form prescribed by the authorities budget office after consultation with the attorney general, in which the board member acknowledges that he or she understands his or her role, and fiduciary responsibilities as set forth in paragraph (g) of this subdivision, and acknowledges that he or she understands his or her duty of loyalty and care to the organization and commitment to the authority's mission and the public interest".

I don't see Should Perform Search Prior To Appointing Executives in the language of paragraph (g) above -- the definition of fiduciary responsibilities.

Thus, your claim "In theory, and according to law, a search for candidates should be conducted and then chosen by vote of the Board" is indirect, a bit of a stretch, right? If I've misread this, then please correct me. Thanks.

The only take-home I see from this letter is that the ABO and the Appointments Office are acting in tandem to head off any RIOC attempt to perform a search (even) much less actually name a Pres, or find Pres candidates.

The Governor obviously wanted to name his own person - for whatever reason - to that post, and asked the Appointments Office to tell RIOC to delay any search it might want to conduct so as to give the Appointments Office more time. The ABO says "Acquiescing to this [Appointments Office] request is not a dereliction of duty."

There's nothing really cryptic about this letter. The ABO is saying it concurs with the Appointments Office - not terribly surprising considering they're both under Cuomo's control. The part about "Only the full board etc.." refers the matter to the full board - including Towns and Kendall - since it's unlikely either would consider performing a search without Cuomo's say-so.

Thus, the entire effort is neatly nipped in the bud, with the message communicated to the Board to do nothing about a search, instead simply wait for the Governor to name a Pres.

I agree with Rick also. Considering RIOC is governed by NYS there is a double whammy, RIOC is governed by NYS which makes the necessary appointments "in conjuction" to the bylaws (Not against) Every governor has always made appointments according to the bylaws.There was no rule broken .The Governor appointed the board confirmed by a majority (done deal) ! I have to literally tip my hat to Faye & Howard.FINALLY-- They used their better judgement in this situation..I am sorry it took so long for them to use their own judgement for the betterment of the community... Mind us ,Since the resignation of Leslie Torres residents have been crying"WE HAVE NO LEADERSHIP AT RIOC"!! Well Now there's leadership(Duh)! Be careful what you ask for.... I commend all involved for demonstrating true leadership... I still honestly believe Erica Wilder needs to step aside asap! According to staff members at RIOC she will eventually attempt to poison this new administration... She clings under every president..She cached under Leslie to the point leslie was prejudice aginst certain residents.She "clinged" on to Fernando Martinez divulging every bit of sensitive information,conversations residents confided in her,Lastly , She navigated toward Don Lewis following him around from point -A to point -B ..(OMG) ...RIOC need to hire a community reations expert with tact & professionalism.. Someone who can bridge the divide in the community ,-not create more divide... If Erica Wider stays I promise it will only get worse...

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